Staff speak of joy and relief as vulnerable mental health patients receive the COVID-19 vaccine

22.01.21

NHS staff providing hospital care to older people with severe mental illness have spoken of their joy and relief at seeing their vulnerable patients receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Patients over the age of 80 on mental health wards in hospitals across North Wales are among those to have received the vaccine in recent weeks, in what staff have described as a huge milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

Patients on older person’s mental health wards often have severe mental illness or complex dementia, which can make keeping them safe from COVID-19 infection particularly challenging.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, staff within Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s mental health and learning disabilities services have introduced significant changes to their working practices in order to keep patients safe.

Among those to receive the vaccine this week was 89 year old Mr Ernie Jones, who has received care on Cemlyn Ward at Ysbyty Cefni, Anglesey, for the past four weeks.

The retired civil servant, from Llangefni, praised staff for making his hospital stay feel ‘normal’, despite his family not being able to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Cemlyn Ward staff provide care for people with dementia from across North Wales whose needs cannot be met in a residential or care home setting. Many of these patients have complex needs and require specialist assessment and interventions over a number of weeks or months.

Ward Manager Cara Jowitt said the arrival of the vaccine represented a joyous moment after what has been the most difficult period of her career.

She said: “Because our patients aren’t able to maintain social distancing and find it difficult to wear masks it can be extremely challenging to keep them safe.

“It’s a huge relief that our patients over 80 have now received the vaccine. We’ve had COVID-19 on the ward before and we know how devastating it can be. We’ve all had that fear of it coming back and it’s been the hardest period of my career.

“Trying to provide care for someone with dementia who has COVID-19 is so hard because they don’t engage with treatment and they don’t understand why we’re trying to put an oxygen mask on them. It’s been a really tough time and having our over 80s patients vaccinated just gives us the hope that the end is in sight.

“I’m so proud of each and every member of our staff. They have gone above and beyond, working extra hours and pulling together as a team. This is a huge milestone for us all and there’s been a real buzz on the ward this week.”

For Cemlyn Ward Junior Doctor Dr Gathoni Kamau, the arrival of the vaccine represents a ray of hope, eight months into the pandemic.

She said: “The vaccination gives us hope that we are starting to get to the end of all this. We have been very scared for our patients because this patient group is the most vulnerable. It’s just so hopeful and so good that science is winning.”

People outside of hospital settings are being invited to vaccination centres and GP practices to receive their vaccine in order of the priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Those aged 80 or over who have not already been contacted should receive an invitation in the coming days. BCUHB aims for all people aged 80 or over to have had their first dose of the vaccine by the end of next week

To find out more about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in North Wales, please visit our vaccination webpages.